Dell Inspiron 8100
The Dell Inspiron 8100 was a high-end laptop produced by Dell in 2001 as a replacement for the previous year's Inspiron 8000. It used Intel Pentium III-M "Tulatin" CPUs, the Intel 815 chipset, and came with either ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 or NVidia GeForce 2 GO graphics. During its short lifespan, it was pretty much the most powerful laptop you could generally buy, and it remained that way until the updated Dell Inspiron 8200 appeared in 2002. Dell also used the basic Inspiron 8100 unit for the Latitude C810, which featured some different styling queues to better reflect that line of laptop. The Inspiron 8100 chassis is pretty similar to any of the lesser Inspiron models, to the point where I would imagine they are fairly interchangeable for the basic structural components. Performance and features Processor All Dell Inspiron 8100s use an Intel Pentium III-M "Tulatin" CPU, in the Socket 479/P form factor; please note that this is not the same as the "Coppermine" CPU's socket, which is the Socket 495 type. It is also not compatible with the newer Socket 479s used for the Pentium M. As far as I can tell, the clock speeds range from about 1 GHz at the bottom end, to 1.2 GHz at the top end. Anything advertised as "733 MHz" is probably just the CPU throttling down as per SpeedStep, as this is the base clock speed for these CPUs, although this is definitely not a guarantee. Whilst it has been a while since I owned a functional Inspiron 8100 at the time I am writing this, the "Tulatin" PIII-Ms run considerably cooler than the "Coppermine" versions did. The "Tulatin" has more CPU cache than the "Coppermine", and, with its higher 133 MHz FSB, is noticeably quicker at the same clock speed as a result. A "Tulatin" PIII should be a very reasonable gaming device for games of the correct era, and would run Windows XP SP3 with little issue if it wasn't handicapped by the 815 chipset's RAM limitation (of which I will say more later.) It won't handle YouTube videos though, in reality, and web browsing will chug a little with any modern browser; this is par for the course with old laptops though. Self-monitored fan control As it has been a fair while since I ran the Inspiron 8100, and I was running it under Windows Millennium (where CPU temperatures are often not displayed), I cannot say too much about its temperature management. What I will say is that it is probably very similar to that found in the Inspiron 8000, with the caveat of course that it should run a fair bit cooler. Graphics Initially, the Inspiron 8100 was only available with the NVidia GeForce 2 GO GPU, in either 16MB or 32MB flavours. However, later models were available with a 64MB ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 (not listed in the maintenance manual), which was not only more powerful than the NVidia chip, it was also significantly more efficient. Both are extremely capable cards, although my 8100s have only had the former. Both were extremely capable cards in their day, and would be more than capable of playing period-correct games at decent settings, although you may not be able to stretch as far as 1600x1200 (assuming the game even supports such a high resolution) in some of them. Screen As far as I can tell, the Inspiron 8100 only came with a 15" TFT with a resolution of 1600x1200; it is entirely possible some of the less well equipped models used the 1400x1050 screen from the Inspiron 8000. Regardless of this, both were extremely high-end at the time, and, indeed, are higher resolutions than many modern laptop displays. Decent examples of either screen will give you really sharp images at the higher resolutions, and still look reasonable at lower ones. Both panels support screen scaling, although it is probable that the scaling will be imperfect without proper driver support, and during things such as Windows installations or Windows startup screens. Sound The Inspiron 8100 uses the ESS Maestro 3i sound chip, which was pretty common back in the day, and used on a wide range of laptops - both Dells, and other OEMs. It's a reasonable little chip for what it is, and although I haven't tested many games with laptops using such a sound chip (I have more experience with older variants), I do know that there are some games that offer explicit ESS AudioDrive options, which I would imagine these chips are compatible with. It should be as good as anything else from the time period at emulating a SoundBlaster, in reality, and drivers aren't much of an issue. Speaker-wise, the speakers are pretty decent for a laptop; for games, they're more than sufficient, and can be cranked up to quite high volumes as well. They're nothing special when it comes to music playback, but for their age, they're about as good as anything else was in 2001 laptops. The Inspiron 8100 also came fitted with a microphone, which is good quality, but suffers from being placed underneath the power button panel; this means that fan noise will be quite noticeable in your recordings. Chipset The Inspiron 8100 uses the Intel 815EP chipset with a 133 MHz FSB. The 815EP was a solid if unspectacular chipset at this speed, but it is severely handicapped these days by a hard RAM ceiling of 512MB. It's probably best described as adequate, to be honest; Intel never did release a killer PIII chipset, and at least this isn't the terrible 810 or 820. Intel had released the 830MP chipset around the time the Inspiron 8100 came out, and it's a shame that this laptop didn't use it; it was better optimized for the "Tulatin" PIII-Ms, and had a much more useful RAM limit of 1GB. Whilst it doesn't look like many laptops ever did use this chipset, it is supposed to also be noticeably quicker than the 815 family was. Power supply & battery As was common for the time, Dell designed the Inspiron 8100 to use its PA-6 adapter, which is a 20V, 3.5A adapter. You'll also find that the system will work perfectly well with the older PA-2 type, which has identical ratings, but uses an older figure-of-8 connector for its power input, rather than the newer (and theoretically safer) cloverleaf type. It used Dell's own power connector, but that's hardly a big deal considering how many laptops they built with it. This was not one of the Dell laptops that forces you to use a specific, official charger, so using a third-party one shouldn't be an issue. Battery-wise, these laptops shipped with an 8-cell lithium-ion battery. The advertised battery life was around 2-3 hours, whilst reviewers tended to agree with. My experiences with the similiarly-specced reproduction batteries will put it in the 2 to 3 hour range for moderate usage, whilst it may last a little longer whilst idling. The laptop has sensors that detect if you are using an improper battery; this won't flag up any reproduction batteries, but it will throw a flashing light at you if you use one of Dell's older batteries that was designed to charge at 3A. It will also notify you if your battery is completely knackered. If you fit two batteries, as is entirely feasible, then you will be able to have a very healthy battery life that will match many modern systems, although of course you'll be drawing in a lot more power that way. The batteries also charge very quickly when they're good. Other noteworthy features The Inspiron 8100 uses metal contacts for the keyboard, which give it a very nice quasi-mechanical feel, and a distinctive sound. Although some may find it a little off-putting, in my opinion it is the best laptop keyboard that I've ever used. There is a trackpoint in the keyboard, in addition to the trackpad, and two mouse buttons for each device. The Inspiron 8100 offers a fixed optical drive in addition to the two modular bays; so as well as it being possible to have two batteries, you can have two optical drives as well (be that a DVD drive, CD drive, or floppy disk drive), which is a nice feature. There is a single wireless aerial present inside the laptop, so I'd recommend using a PCMCIA WiFi adapter if you need a wireless internet connection. Not all models came with Ethernet cards, which is also worth baring in mind - some only have modems, and of course, some may have been stripped of the cards. They're of the Mini PCI type, so they're easy enough to source. Operating system flexibility Dell offer a comprehensive set of drivers for using the Inspiron 8100 under Windows Millennium, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Sadly, they don't offer any official drivers for Windows 98, but you may be able to use some of the Millennium drivers under that OS, or pinch some of the Inspiron 8000's drivers. Maintenance feasibility Ease of physically working on the system The Inspiron 8100, for the most part, is extremely easy to work on. None of the screws are particularly hidden from view, and the maintenance manual is very thorough, as is typical for an older Dell product. The RAM slot cover and the NIC cover both will require levering off with a flathead screwdriver in most cases, but otherwise, if your laptop is in decent shape, it will come apart fairly easily. The only real problem with maintaining the system will come when you need to change the CMOS battery, which is rather stupidly located within the palmrest. To get at it, you will need to take the palmrest off the laptop, remove the metal shield from underneath, and then disconnect the battery. Make sure to slide the front edge of this shield underneath the plastic section when you put it back together, or the front mouse buttons will not click. Ease of getting parts/complete systems The Inspiron 8100 is pretty much one of the easiest PIII-era systems to obtain parts for. The major point in its favour was the fact that Dell chose to offer two standardized modular bays on a wide range of their laptops, and this means that anything designed for these bays - batteries, floppy drives, CD/DVD drives etc - are fairly easy to obtain, and they won't cost you a fortune either. Indeed, you can generally get brand-new, reproduction batteries for under £15 posted, and new CMOS batteries are easily imported from China for a low cost as well. Finding Inspiron 8100s in varying states of repair isn't that hard either; you'll usually find at least half a dozen on eBay at any one time. Durability/reliability In my experience, the Inspiron 8100 tends to stand up pretty well. The screen hinges will probably be a little loose due to the effects of 15 years or so and a heavy screen, but they don't tend to disintegrate, and they're rarely too bad. The main weak point seems to be that the palmrests always come apart; the metal rails will usually shear off from the plastic. It's not terminal or a big deal; you can either glue them back on, or just leave it, as the palmrest will generally still be fairly secure anyway. The very thin plastic above the PCMCIA slots also has a tendency to crack or bend inwards, but this is not generally a problem. Beyond these niggles, and the inevitability that some of the plastic mounting points may be weak due to age, you shouldn't expect things to just start falling out. Reliability-wise, there are still a few Inspiron 8100s kicking around in good shape, and I don't see any real weak points in the computational hardware. Quirks There is only one quirk of real note to these systems; as with all of its direct relatives, you must have a hard drive of some description fitted, and working, for the fixed optical drive to be detected in BIOS. So if you see an Inspiron 8100 advertised as having a faulty optical drive when it has no hard drive present, there is every possibility that the seller was simply unaware of this trait, and that the drive may actually be good. Rating In my opinion, the Dell Inspiron 8100 is pretty much the best example of any PIII laptop out there. Certainly, if you find an example with a higher-end "Tulatin" PIII-M, and the ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 GPU, it'll be able to play any period-correct game you throw at it, and do so with reasonable ease. It was a definite improvement over its predecessor, and was from something of a "golden age" of Dell systems. Good, mediocre, bad Good *Parts are plentiful and affordable - even new batteries are cheap. *Maintenance manual is fairly in-depth, well written/structured, and easily found on Dell's website. *High-end models were as powerful as they got, back in 2001. *SpeedFan can actually control the fan speed - at least it can under Windows XP! *Two decently-sized fans, located together at the back of the chassis - both move a lot of air at higher speeds. *Uses Dell's modular bays. Mediocre *Intel 815 chipset is hard limited to 512MB RAM. *Intel 830MP chipset was out by this point, and should be considerably quicker. *CMOS battery is located within the palmrest, underneath the metal shield. *Palmrests are fragile; prone to having the rails part company with the plastic (has happened on every single palmrest I've owned for these, and that's about 5 or so). *Fans are noisy, even at minimal speeds. *A hard drive must be fitted for the fixed optical drive to actually be visible to the BIOS. *No official Dell drivers for Windows 98. Bad *Lets the CPU get way too hot for my liking before cranking the fans up. Reviews *PCMag.com *ZDNet Useful links *Official Dell page *Service manual